Cruz, AOC join push for OTC birth control

Ted Cruz floats legislation with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez after agreeing on over-the-counter birth control - CNNPolitics:

June 12, 2019 - "Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz asked New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez if she would want to team up to make birth control available over-the-counter.Cruz, one of the Senate's most conservative members, made the suggestion via Twitter Wednesday to Ocasio-Cortez, the freshman congresswoman who has built a reputation as one of the more progressive members of Congress. The exchange comes after the unlikely duo came together on Twitter late last month when the pair agreed that Congress should ban former lawmakers from becoming lobbyists.

"On Wednesday, Cruz responded to a June 7 tweet from Ocasio-Cortez in which she said 'birth control should be over-the-counter'.

"'I agree. Perhaps, in addition to the legislation we are already working on together to ban Members of Congress from becoming lobbyists, we can team up here as well. A simple, clean bill making birth control available over the counter. Interested?' Cruz tweeted....

"There has been a growing push in the US to make birth control pills available without a prescription, although previous efforts have faced political resistance. Cecile Richards, then the head of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, argued in a 2014 opinion piece that an over-the-counter proposal would make birth control less available, as women would have to pay out-of-pocket for a non-prescription pill, while under the Affordable Care Act, women could obtain birth control without a co-pay. In the same article, however, Richards said she supported 'making it available over the counter, in addition to requiring insurance plans to cover it -- but not instead of requiring no co-pay coverage.'

"Ocasio-Cortez said in an interview last week that her and Cruz's legislative teams were meeting to work on a bill to ban former lawmakers from becoming lobbyists and that she was 'encouraged' thus far. That proposal picked up support from other lawmakers on Twitter."

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/12/politics/ted-cruz-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-birth-control-twitter/index.html

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GOP libertarians stand against Syria bombing

GOP’s war skeptics, once hopeful about Trump, wonder whether he’s changed - The Washington Post - David Weigel:

April 7, 2017 - "After the final confirmation vote on Judge Neil M. Gorsuch, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) walked into a crowd of reporters to inveigh against the airstrikes in Syria. He’d been doing so nonstop since Thursday night — first in a statement, then on TV, then in a column decrying the 'unconstitutional rush to war'....

"Until this week, and despite Trump’s early personnel moves, libertarian skeptics of foreign intervention thought they had an ally in the White House. But in the space of 24 hours, Paul — who came off a golf trip with Trump with praise for the president — found the anti-interventionist Republican posse shrunken back to pre-Obama levels....

"With President Barack Obama in the White House, Republicans and their voters were growing more skeptical of foreign intervention. The autumn of 2013 seemed to present a pivot point, when most Republicans rejected Obama’s call for airstrikes in Syria. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), a rival for the libertarian vote, said that attacking Syrian airfields could turn the United States into 'al-Qaeda’s air force' and wondered whether Obama was asking Congress to approve military action because “his bluff was called.

"The vast majority of Republicans who opposed Obama’s 2013 strike plan have come out in favor of Trump’s — which, analysts acknowledge, was more limited in scope. An analysis by the Denver7 news channel found that every Republican member of the congressional delegation who had been critical of the Obama attack, some even calling it 'unconstitutional' without congressional approval, had backed Trump....

"To Congress’s libertarians, Trump’s decision to act without consulting Congress was an obvious contradiction of how he had campaigned. On a Friday episode of former congressman Ron Paul’s online show, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) hammered home the increasingly fringe — but once Republican mainstream — position that striking Syria without congressional authorization risked blowback.

"'ISIS is better off today than it was yesterday,' Massie said, using another name for the Islamic State....

"Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), who joined Friday’s briefing for senators, said that Trump had been clear up until he became president. He had repeatedly spoken, tweeted and recorded short videos against the idea of bombing Syria.

"'Back in 2013, the situation was fairly similar,' Amash said. 'President Obama suggested that he might attack, and [Trump] opposed it.'"

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/04/07/gops-war-skeptics-once-hopeful-about-trump-wonder-whether-hes-changed/?utm_term=.639f49d145d9
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Wikileaks: Democrats helped Trump win primaries

Leaked Memo Shows DNC 'Elevating' Trump TWO MONTHS Before He Announced | MRCTV - Nick Kangadi:

October 10, 2016 - "WikiLeaks ...release[d] an alleged memo sent by Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta in April 2015 to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) as part of a larger release of Podesta's emails ... this past Friday (with more out on Monday) while no one in the media was – or is – paying attention.

"[T]he email in question was dated over two months prior to Donald Trump announcing his candidacy, yet he was mentioned as a candidate to 'elevate'....  This alleged email was also just a few weeks before former president Bill Clinton had a private phone conversation with Trump.... Clinton’s personal office in New York confirmed that the call occurred in late May, but an aide to Clinton said the 2016 race was never specifically discussed and that it was only a casual chat.

"In the email, the candidates were broken down into categories. The 'Pied Piper' category was for those candidates who were not considered 'establishment' Republicans [Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, and Trump]. The rest of the candidates listed represented those that were more established politicians and suited for a general election.... [O]ne sentence in particular that might raise some eyebrows as to the DNC’s influence over the GOP election process. 'We need to be elevating the Pied Piper candidates so that they are leaders of the pack and tell the press to [take] them seriously.'"
Read more: http://www.mrctv.org/blog/wikileaks-alleged-dnc-memo-shows-possible-manipulation-gop


WikiLeaks Reveals DNC Elevated Trump to Help Clinton | Observer - Michael Sainato:

October 10, 2016 - "It was in the best interest of Clinton, and therefore the Democratic Party, that Trump was the Republican presidential nominee. Polls indicated Sen. Rubio, Gov. Kasich, or almost any other establishment Republican would likely beat Clinton in a general election. Even Cruz.... Clinton and Democrats expected the FBI investigation into her private email server would serve as a major obstacle to Clinton’s candidacy, and the public’s familiarity with her scandals and flip-flopping political record put her at a disadvantage against a newcomer. Donald Trump solved these problems.

Image: Brookings Institution, 2020

"All the Clinton campaign had to do was push the mainstream media in the general direction of covering and attacking Trump as though he was the star of the Republican presidential primaries. 

As the presumed Democratic nominee, whomever she decided to dignify by responding to — whether the comments were directed at her or not — would be presumed to be the spokesperson, or nominee, of the Republican Party.

"'Clinton, Trump trade insults as rhetoric heats up between front-runners,' read the headline from a CNN article in September 2015. 'Hillary Clinton Seizes On Donald Trump’s Remarks to Galvanize Women,' read a New York Times headline from December. 

Several media outlets criticized the mainstream media obsession with Trump, but despite a few concerns that the media was propping up his legitimacy as a candidate with their constant news coverage, it continued unabatedly.

"The mainstream media was more than willing to do the Clinton campaign and DNC’s work for them by creating a narrative that the 2016 presidential elections was about Hillary Clinton vs. Donald Trump.... The media gave Clinton what she wanted; impunity for the corruption, lies, and deceitfulness rampant in her political record, and an opponent who divided his own political party while driving fear and anxiety into her own to the point where enough Democrats and voters would gladly vote for her just to avoid Trump becoming president."

Read more: http://observer.com/2016/10/wikileaks-reveals-dnc-elevated-trump-to-help-clinton/
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McAfee & Perry won't vote for Gary Johnson

Gary Johnson's Libertarian rivals reject him for president - Washington Times - David Sherfinski:

October 18, 2016 - "It’s not exactly 'never Johnson,' but some of Gary Johnson’s former rivals for the Libertarian presidential nomination say they are unimpressed with his campaign and won’t vote for him, with one even channeling Sen. Ted Cruz and telling libertarians to vote their 'conscience' as he mounts an informal write-in campaign for himself.

"Author Darryl Perry, who placed fourth at the party’s nominating convention in May, said last month that everyone, including libertarians, should 'follow their conscience' when voting in the general election. 'I will be writing myself in,' Mr. Perry said this week. 'Of the people that are on the ballot in New Hampshire, there’s none of [them] that I think are good.'

"Mr. Perry has taken issue with Mr. Johnson’s positions on taxes and guns, among other areas. Mr. Johnson has said he wants to replace the income tax with a consumption tax. He also said he is open to a discussion on banning people on terrorism watch lists from buying guns while criticizing such lists as riddled with errors.

"Cybersecurity specialist John McAfee, who came in third, said he is not going to vote. He cited gun control as one reason he is withholding support for Mr. Johnson. He also said he doesn’t see much appeal in either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. 'The reason I’m not going to vote is that you cannot tell me that I have a choice between the measles or a bladder infection and expect me to pick one,' Mr. McAfee said....

Nicholas Sarwark, who chairs the Libertarian National Committee, said people who didn’t win the nomination won’t be happy but that Mr. Johnson was the convention delegates’ clear choice. 'I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about what the haters think,' Mr. Sarwark said. 'For the most part, the people who are the loudest concern trolls are the people who do not have our best interests at heart.'

"Mr. Johnson does still have the support of businessman Austin Petersen, his top rival for the nomination. Mr. Petersen acknowledged 'disappointments,' such as Mr. Johnson’s blanking on a question about ... Aleppo, but said the former two-term New Mexico governor still has a historic opportunity to get a higher vote total than any other Libertarian Party presidential candidate.

"'It won’t put him in the White House, but it does advance the movement that’s behind him, which is sort of what I consider the future of politics in the United States, and that’s the liberty movement,' Mr. Petersen said."

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/oct/18/gary-johnsons-libertarian-rivals-reject-him-for-pr/
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Utah state senator joins Libertarian Party

Utah Pol Bolts GOP After RNC: Party's Direction ‘Makes Me Want To Cry’ - Allegra Kirkland, Talking Points Memo:

July 26, 2016 - "A Utah state senator announced that he was leaving the GOP in despair after attending the Republican National Committee last week.

"Sen. Mark Madsen (R-UT) said Monday that his experience as a Utah delegate confirmed all of his concerns about the future of the party.

"'Every decision and inclination I had before was reinforced,' Madsen said in a press conference where he announced he would become a Libertarian, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

"Madsen, a three term senator from District 13, supported Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and was disappointed by convention-goers booing Cruz off stage when he urged Republicans to vote their conscience.

"Like Cruz, Madsen seems himself as a strict constitutional conservative and believes that 'the scales tipped' away in the Republican Party from an emphasis on states’ rights and entitlement reform.

"The current direction of the party, he said Monday, 'makes me want to cry.'

"'I've invested a lot in that party,' Madsen said, according to the Tribune.

"The Utah senator will retire at the end of this year and acknowledged that his announcement was “largely symbolic."

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/utah-state-senator-leaves-gop-after-convention
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Libertarians see surge in interest, memberships

Google Searches for 'Libertarian Party' Surge Following Trump Win - Breitbart - Allum Bokhari:
May 4, 2016 - "Google searches for the 'Libertarian Party' surged last night following the exit of Senator Ted Cruz from the Republican race after his decisive loss to [Donald] Trump in the Indiana primary.
"This was matched by searches for Gary Johnson, former governor of New Mexico and the party’s candidate in 2012. Johnson is once again seeking the party’s nomination in 2016, although he must first overcome challenges from software entrepreneur John McAfee and Libertarian Republic founder Austin Petersen.
"Interest in Johnson also surged on Reddit, where a post from a user 'terrified of a Trump-Clinton choice' went viral. The user urged other Redditors to 'submit and upvote information about Gary Johnson like crazy.' Reddit users obliged, giving the post enough votes to reach the site’s widely-read front page.
"The post was originally submitted to the /r/libertarian subreddit, where submissions rarely, if ever, garner enough attention to move so far up the rankings.
"Both Johnson and his leadership rival, Petersen, were quick to welcome disaffected Republicans on Twitter."
Read more: http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2016/05/04/google-searches-libertarian-party-surge-following-trump-win/
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Libertarian Party membership applications double after Trump becomes GOP nominee | Washington Examiner - Asche Schow:
May 4, 2016 - "In the hours after the polls closed in Indiana and it was announced that businessman Donald Trump had won the Republican presidential primary — thereby ending Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's campaign — the Libertarian Party saw a doubling of its new membership applications.
"Between 7 p.m. Tuesday evening and noon on Wednesday, the Libertarian Party received 99 new memberships. For the same time period a day earlier, the LP received only 46 new memberships.
"In an email to the Washington Examiner, LP Executive Director Wes Benedict said he was unaware of any social media efforts by the party to recruit new members, and believed the increase was in response to Trump becoming the clear Republican nominee."
Read more: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/libertarian-party-membership-applications-double-after-trump-becomes-gop-nominee/article/2590367
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Ron Paul coalition fragments in 2016

Where are all the Ron 'Paulite' libertarians in 2016? - Daniel Libit, CNBC:

April 14, 2016 - "Last month, Walter Block, a libertarian professor of economics and long-time acolyte of Ron Paul, pinched his nose and co-launched a group, Libertarians for Trump.... While he finds much of Trump's domestic agenda odious, Block very much likes Trump's noninterventionist foreign policy positions.

"Still, Block insists his group ... advocates only for Trump as the Republican nominee, and it intends to promptly disband after the primary. Then, Block said, even his vote is up for grabs. 'If it was Bernie [Sanders] versus Donald, I would vote for the Libertarian [Party candidate] for sure," he told CNBC.com. 'If it was Donald versus Hillary [Clinton], I would have a much harder time. I would have trouble deciding.'

"His conundrum is not unique among his kind. Four years after its political awakening, and in the absence of an obvious rallying point, the Ron Paul coalition finds itself in a diffuse, conflicted and confused diaspora. Paul's devotees .. are now erratically strewn across the political spectrum of the 2016 election, ... attaching themselves to Trump's populism, Ted Cruz's conservatism and even Sanders' socialism....

"The current state of the Paul coalition ... suggests ... its support had much more to do with Paul's outsiderism, than his libertarianism. It is this reality that dawned too late on the presidential campaign of his son, Kentucky U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, who thought he could expand on his father's base of support by appealing to establishment Republicans as well as true libertarians ... the campaign's internal polls found that of Iowa voters who said they supported Ron Paul in 2012, only about a third identified generally as having libertarian leanings....

"Paul commits his time to leading the Campaign for Liberty and the Ron Paul Institute, a foreign policy nonprofit.... But perhaps Paul's greatest political legacy is Young Americans for Liberty, a libertarian student organization that Paul is not formally affiliated with, but which grew out of his 2008 presidential campaign. It currently counts 600 college chapters and 200,000-plus members....

"Cruz, despite Paul's withering criticisms, has arguably made the most consistent effort to attract his former supporters, even name-checking libertarians in his Iowa Caucus victory speech. Prior to Rand Paul dropping out of the race, Cruz had already snatched the support of Iowa state Sen. Jason Schultz, who endorsed Ron Paul in 2012, and Joel Kurtinitis, an activist who served as Paul's regional director. Cruz also won the endorsement of former Libertarian Party presidential candidate Bob Barr, who has gotten crosswise with Paul in the past....

"But at least one political organization sees a unique opportunity this election — the national Libertarian Party. 'This is a year where things are so uncertain, and where the two parties are split among themselves, that it could be a very big opportunity,' said Wes Benedict, the Libertarian Party's executive director. Past nominee Gary Johnson's 1,275,871 votes in 2012 represented a high-water mark for the party in its 44-year history....

"During the 2013 Virginia gubernatorial race, Libertarian Party candidate Robert Sarvis ended with almost 7 percent of the vote, the most a third-party candidate has netted in the South since 1970.

"Immediately after Rand Paul's exit from this year's nominating contest, the Libertarian Party saw notable spikes in new donors, according to figures provided to CNBC.com. The party is on the ballot in 32 states (and Washington, D.C.) — the most of any third-party — and Benedict says he's confident it will be on all states' ballots for November."

Read more: http://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/14/where-are-all-the-ron-paulite-libertarians-in-2016.html
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John McAfee campaign focuses on cybersecurity

John McAfee: 'This is the year of the third party' - CNNPolitics.com - Eli Watkins:

March 23, 2016 - "Libertarian presidential candidate John McAfee ... supports a total overhaul of the nation's counter-terror apparatus, one that focuses on patterns within global communications and not individual conversations....

"He said Democrat Hillary Clinton's call for increased surveillance was outdated and dismissed a recent controversy over whether private companies should help the government break encryption on terrorist's phones as irrelevant.

"He also dismissed the reactions of Donald Trump, who called for torture of terror suspects, and Ted Cruz, who called for law enforcement to 'patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods.' McAfee said they, like the government, had 'missed the point' by focusing on monitoring individuals instead of foreign states with sophisticated cybersecurity systems.

"McAfee said his preferred system would detect terrorist plots before they can go into effect. 'If we had a coherent cybersecurity policy, we would've known about this the moment it was hatched,' McAfee said, advocating for what he called the Chinese approach to national security....

"McAfee originally launched his presidential bid under his own banner, as the nominee of the "Cyber Party," before declaring himself a Libertarian candidate in December. The Libertarian Party, he has pointed out, has ballot access in all 50 states. His Cyber Party did not....

 "McAfee said his more mainstream rivals like Clinton and Trump are not right to lead in the digital age and that 2016 is the year his party can break through. 'I believe this is the year of the third party,' he said....

"McAfee, who had few kind words for Trump, said the Republican front-runner's appeal came from populist anger with the government and the established political class. But he warned such anger came with serious risk.

"'An angry people cannot create anything that is not imbued with anger,' McAfee said. 'God, please let there be other options.'

"He stressed his own commitment to privacy and near-absolute personal freedom alongside his existential fear of cyberwar with China.

"'I know of no one in this country who does not believe we have had personal freedoms taken from us,' McAfee said.

"He criticized Transportation Security Administration checkpoints and the National Security Agency as examples of government overreach. 'I do not feel protected. I feel like the enemy,' McAfee said of airport security in a separate interview before the Brussels bombings.

"McAfee mocked both Trump and Clinton for a lack of technological bona fides and offered a grave assessment of the country's vulnerabilities to Chinese cyber-attacks.

"'I cannot conceive of how more than 1% of us could possibly survive a cyberwar,' McAfee said."

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/23/politics/john-mcafee-third-party-libertarian/
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With Paul out, Justin Amash endorses Ted Cruz

Why I Trust Ted Cruz - Juarin Amash, Independent Journal:

February 23, 2016 - "As a libertarian Republican, I have spent several months promoting the candidacy of my friend Senator Rand Paul... Since his departure from the presidential race, I’ve been asked many times: what now? It’s easy to withdraw from politics when the positions and priorities of the candidates do not precisely mirror our own. But we owe it to our beliefs to find constitutional conservative political allies who not only respect our philosophy but also fight for our views to be heard.

"We have found such an ally in Senator Ted Cruz.

"Ted is not a libertarian and doesn’t claim to be. But he is a principled defender of the Constitution, a brilliant strategist and debater who can defeat the Democratic nominee in the general election, and the only remaining candidate I trust to take on what he correctly calls the Washington Cartel....

"The recent passing of Justice Antonin Scalia reminds us of the importance of electing a president committed to nominating justices to the Supreme Court who will uphold the Constitution and the Rule of Law.... In this regard, history has given us a uniquely qualified candidate — Ted Cruz served as a Supreme Court clerk (an extraordinarily selective job held each year by fewer than 40 lawyers who work directly with the justices to shape the Court’s opinions) and has the rare distinction of having argued many cases before the Supreme Court....

"Ted has consistently led the fight in the Senate against the Washington Cartel’s trillion-dollar omnibus spending bills.... Ted Cruz recognizes that we grow the Republican Party by embracing new approaches that genuinely reflect our support for limited, constitutional government....

"Unlike his competitors, Ted understands that when we allow the government to pick winners and losers, the American people lose. He isn’t afraid to challenge the rampant corruption in Washington, and he isn’t afraid to champion economic freedom. Ted won the Iowa caucuses with a principled stand against subsidies, even though pundits warned that no one could win the state without pandering to the ethanol lobby.

"On civil liberties and foreign policy, Ted ... was one of only ten Republican senators to stand up for our rights by supporting Rand Paul’s amendment to kill the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 — also known as CISA — a cyberspying bill that violates the privacy of all Americans. And Ted has been a stalwart defender of our Fifth Amendment right to due process, strongly opposing the government’s asserted power to indefinitely detain Americans without charge or trial.

"Like me, Ted ... stands with our troops and will not put them in harm’s way unless necessary to protect our country. Unlike some other Republican candidates, Ted opposed intervening in Libya and voted against arming Syrian rebels, and he will not use our Armed Forces to engage in nation building.

"To defend liberty, we must defend our Constitution. I’m supporting Ted because, knowing him personally and having served with him in Congress over the past few years, I trust him as a conservative ally who consistently listens to my perspective and stands firm for what he believes is right."

Read more: http://opinion.injo.com/2016/02/253437-trust-ted-cruz/
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Cruz: give Nevada federal land to state (video)

Cruz hits Nevada airwaves with a libertarian land-rights pitch - Washington Post - David Weigel:

February 18, 2015 -"Sen. Ted Cruz is gearing up for the sleepy, overshadowed Nevada caucuses with a campaign tour and a new TV spot — one that demonstrates how he's trying to own the 'liberty lane' of the primaries now that Sen. Rand Paul is out of the Republican presidential race.

"In 'Nevada Land,' Cruz (R-Tex.) pledges to give 'full control' of Nevada land to the state, putting him in league with hard-line conservatives and libertarians from the grass roots to the American Legislative Exchange Council.

"'Eighty-five percent of Nevada is owned and regulated by the federal government,' Cruz says in the ad. "And Donald Trump wants to keep big government in charge. That's ridiculous'....

"Pulling back land rights from Washington has been a cause for Western Republicans for a generation, epitomized by the high-profile crusades of the Bundy family to claim land rights over territory claimed by the feds. Cruz and Paul (R-Ky.) suggested that Cliven Bundy's 2014 standoff with federal agents came from a legitimate anger....

"Cruz's endorsers in Nevada include Republican state Rep. Michele Fiore, an ally of the Bundys who became a mediator when Ammon Bundy led a temporary takeover of an Oregon wildlife refuge. And the movement to give lands back to the states is supported by some of the most powerful and deep-pocketed libertarian donors in America.

"It's unclear whether that can boost Cruz in Nevada. A CNN-ORC poll this week found Trump 28 points ahead of Cruz in that state. Local Republicans say that the Texan and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) are much better organized than Trump in the state, with local offices and a canvassing team trying to turn out voters for the easily forgotten caucuses. A Cruz surprise might depend on the sort of rural libertarian voters who gave GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul strong finishes in 2008 and 2012."

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/02/18/cruz-hits-nevada-airwaves-with-a-libertarian-land-rights-pitch/
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Should/can libertarians support Cruz? (1) No

Ted Cruz Doesn't Deserve Libertarian Support - J. Wilson, A Libertarian Future:

March 23, 2015 - "Unfortunately, fighting against Obama’s agenda is about all the small government that Ted Cruz is interested in. While he has made the stand against ethanol subsidies, a precarious move in Iowa, there are few other mainstream GOP positions he doesn’t hold. Like most conservative Tea Party Republicans, Ted Cruz is about half way there when it comes to liberty.

"Let’s start with the good.... Cruz is for a flat tax, eliminating the IRS, and auditing the Fed. He’s for fully repealing Obamacare, and for passing a constitutional amendment to require a balanced budget. He’s for auditing and eliminating federal agencies. He’s against the TSA, and the NDAA. He’s even against raising the minimum wage, and for privatizing Social Security. Those are all fiscally conservative positions that libertarians already support....

"Then we have the issues where Ted Cruz is in the middle. He’s for military interventionism abroad, but he’s against sending U.S. ground troops. He rightfully opposes new net neutrality regulation, and the internet sales tax, but doesn’t seem concerned about the NSA. He’s almost there, but not quite. These issues show, however, that Ted Cruz is for government in some areas, a dangerous precedent.

"That leads to the reasons why Ted Cruz doesn’t deserve libertarian support. First and foremost, Ted Cruz is for the drug war.... How can Ted Cruz believe in states’ rights, if he’s for violating them so brutally with the unconstitutional war on drugs? After all, it’s Cruz’s belief in states’ rights that lead him to propose legislation that would allow states to set their own marriage laws, i.e. ban gay marriage within their borders....

"Furthermore, as previously mentioned, Ted Cruz hasn’t done anything to reign in the NSA, or privacy rights. In fact, Ted Cruz co-sponsored a bill for the extension of the Patriot Act, that speaks volumes. In addition, Cruz hasn’t spoken about protecting our civil liberties regarding civil asset forfeiture. He seems to be turning a blind eye to social issues, which libertarians know are just as important as fiscal issues....

"Cruz is a conservative Republican that has not shown enough interest in applying liberty to important issues that libertarians care about. Therefore, Ted Cruz does not deserve libertarian support."

Read more: http://alibertarianfuture.com/2016-election/ted-cruz-doesnt-deserve-libertarian-support/
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Should/can libertarians support Cruz? (2) Yes

The Libertarian Moment Lives With Ted Cruz | Liberty Conservatives - Remso W. Martinez:

February 7, 2016 - "There is [no] pretending that Ted Cruz is a libertarian, he is as conservative as they come, in the traditional sense.... Cruz never pretended to be something he wasn’t, he has much adoration for libertarians, and has stated time and time again that when certain challenges come about, there is a need for a coalition.

"Cruz has been consistent from the beginning, and has shown he shares more common ground with libertarians than virtually any other person in Washington. His record alone shows:

1. He is against senseless undeclared and unconstitutional wars and nation-building halfway around the world.
2. He championed and co-sponsored Audit the Fed, making it a central point in his plan for the new Senate majority.
3. He is pro gold standard.
4. He opposes the Patriot Act and opposed the indefinite detention provisions of the NDAA, and authored an amendment to it requiring a DoD audit of bases, to identify waste and prioritize base expenditures in an effort to ‘reduce our overseas footprint’
5. He believes that the internet should be free and open.

"If nothing else, a simple look at his Five for Freedom plan should be convincing enough. In the preamble Cruz states 'During my first year, I will fight to abolish the IRS, the Department of Education, the Department of Energy, the Department of Commerce, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. To do that, I will press Congress relentlessly. And I will appoint heads of each of those agencies whose central charge will be to lead the effort to wind them down and determine whether any programs need to be preserved elsewhere because they fall within the proper purview of the federal government. I do not anticipate lists to be long.' The structure of the pan includes:

• Five for Freedom – abolish 4 unnecessary cabinet agencies and the IRS.
• 25 Federal “ABCs” – eliminate 25 Agencies, Bureaus, Commissions, and other programs.
• Grace Commission 2.0 – reinstitute President Reagan’s Panel on Cost Control (“The Grace Commission”) to identify waste and inefficiency.
• Congressional accountability – amend the Constitution to require Congress and the President to balance the budget, and enact the REINS Act.
• Federal hiring freeze and reform – institute a freeze on the hiring of federal civilian employees across the executive branch, and reform automatic worker raises.

"The opportunity to keep the Liberty Movement within the GOP is still alive thanks to Cruz, the last 'Yahoo for Uncle Milton' on stage who can break the Washington Cartel."

Read more: http://www.libertyconservatives.com/libertarian-moment-lives-ted-cruz/
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Team Cruz 'ready to pounce' on Paul's base

Ted Cruz, born-again libertarian - Katie Glueck, Politico:

February 3, 2016 - "Bill O'Brien knew exactly what to do when Rand Paul officially dropped out of the 2016 race. He went on a dialing spree.

"O'Brien, one of Ted Cruz's New Hampshire co-chairs and a former state House Speaker, had tried '15 to 20' state reps by noon, looking to pull Paul supporters over to team Cruz.

"Former U.S. Senator Bob Smith, another co-chair for Cruz here, did much the same when he heard the news in the midst of an MSNBC appearance. Back on the Cruz campaign bus, he too was calling Paul-aligned activists and lawmakers, and even members of Paul's leadership team.

"It's not a coincidence that Cruz's co-chairs had an identical game plan: they've been courting Paul's supporters for months, hoping to siphon support away from a campaign on its last legs. Now those legs have given out, and Team Cruz is ready to pounce....

"'We respect and admire Sen. Paul’s defense of liberty over the many, many years, as well as his dad’s, and we would welcome his support because we think we have many likeminded views, especially on liberty, freedom and the Constitution,' Smith said when asked to sum up the messaging.

"Smith and O’Brien declined to say how many Paul supporters had already come on board as of late Wednesday morning, but Smith said the number was 'significant'...

"Tuesday night, Cruz was already telegraphing his plans to pitch to libertarians. 'Part of the reason we are more competitive in New Hampshire than the typical conservative is, we’ve got enough support on the libertarian side that it backfills,' Cruz told reporters.... 'Iowa you’ve got more evangelicals, New Hampshire you’ve got more libertarians,' Cruz continued....

"He recalibrated his stump speech early in the day, focusing more on themes of economic freedom and defending the constitution, cracking jokes about government phone tapping and name-checking the First, Second, Fourth, Fifth and Tenth Amendments.... He also downplayed some of the social issues that he had emphasized in his bid to court Iowa's evangelicals."

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/ted-cruz-libertarian-218687
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Rand Paul suspends presidential campaign

GOP Race Loses Rand Paul's Tech, Privacy Cred - US News - Tom Risen:

February 3, 2016 - "The Republican presidential campaign lost its biggest privacy advocate on Wednesday when Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky dropped out of the race, leaving doubt about whether the remaining candidates can resonate with the tech community or voters concerned about government surveillance.

"Taking a libertarian stance on Internet issues including encryption and the National Security Agency's snooping has been a key part of Paul's campaign effort to attract tech savvy younger voters, while other Republican candidates make hawkish statements in favor of mass surveillance.

"Tech policy generates less excitement from voters in presidential elections than issues like national security or the economy, however, which in part explains how Paul struggled below 10 percent in most election polls this past year....

"Paul's stance in favor of encryption and limits on government surveillance reflected the positions of numerous companies like Facebook, Apple and Google, and promised to attract funding if his campaign gained traction.

"Paul sparred during debates with candidates including New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on the issue of warrantless surveillance, countering his argument for an expansion of the NSA's spying powers. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and the state's former governor, Jeb Bush, have also supported expanding the NSA's powers.

"The Kentucky senator has called for more accountability and limits to the spying powers of the NSA , but he opposed USA Freedom Act in protest because he and other privacy advocates argued that it did not go far enough to restrict surveillance....

"Less vocal critics of surveillance in the Republican race remain, however, and now have an opportunity to appeal to Paul's libertarian base by speaking more about privacy rights. These include Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who ... voted for the Freedom Act, and neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who has spoken in favor of requiring security agencies to collect data using court orders."

Read more: http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-02-03/gop-race-loses-rand-pauls-tech-privacy-cred
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Cruz wins Iowa caucus, Rand Paul 5th

Rand Paul Campaign, SuperPAC Speak on Iowa and What's Next - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Brian Doherty:

February 2, 2016 - "Rand Paul's vote in the Iowa caucus tonight could have been roughly predicted from the most recent polling. It was discouraging for those who hoped for a last-minute surge to third driven by student turnout and over a million voter I.D. and GOTV [get out the vote] calls.

"Paul's campaign issued a statement tonight trying to spin the results positively, which read in part:

Rand Paul had a strong top-five finish by placing ahead of Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, John Kasich, and the last two Iowa Caucus winners tonight. The voters spoke for the first time, and they showed that they believe everyone in our country should have the liberty to make the most of their lives, not just the well-connected and the political establishment.Whether the issue is constitutional government, a balanced budget, a rational foreign policy, or preserving the entire Bill of Rights for all citizens, Rand Paul is the only one standing up for conservatives and liberty-loving Americans.

Tonight's vote reveals that the race for the White House is wide open. Dr. Rand Paul believes his voice is important to the debate, and calls on ABC and the RNC to make sure he is on the stage next weekend in New Hampshire. The results today demand it.... 

"Matt Kibbe, formerly of Tea Party-identified liberty activist group FreedomWorks and now with the Paul-supporting unaffiliated SuperPAC Concerned American Voters [CAV], ... worked on GOTV for Paul in Iowa.

"While 'we wanted Rand to do better, given where he has been it was a credible showing. I do think that Cruz and Donald Trump and even oddly enough Bernie Sanders were eating away at Rand's potential voting bloc,' Kibbe says. 'It heightens the now obvious divide between the liberty vote and the anti-establishment populist vote'....

"Kibbe is not as viscerally turned off by Cruz as many libertarians are. 'If you look at Ted Cruz' background, his training as a classical liberal is impressive," Kibbe says. 'He's read Mises and Hayek, he's read all the books [libertarians] have read and I believe he deeply understands those ideas'."

"Kibbe admits that 'I'm more ambivalent today because he has flip flopped on criminal justice and he's flip flopped on surveillance and most worrisome is, what is his foreign policy?...'

"Cruz or no, Kibbe says that 'there is still momentum to move forward [with Paul], it was a very credible performance tonight and we [CAV] will be in it as long as Rand is in it.' They are currently involved in social networking efforts in New Hampshire and ground work in Nevada....

"Kibbe says that even voters who are never going to embrace the full vision of movement libertarianism in an intellectual, bookish manner are still capturable by libertarian-leaning politicians."

Read more: http://reason.com/blog/2016/02/02/rand-paul-campaign-superpac-speak-on-iow

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Ethanol mandate fuels Iowa campaign

Presidential Candidates Rushing to Support Ethanol Subsidies Ahead of Iowa Caucus - Reason.com - John Stossel:

January 27, 2016 - "Cars run on fuel. Politicians run on votes, and they'll do almost anything to get them. That includes supporting mandates that force us to use ethanol, a fuel made from corn that Iowa farmers grow.

"They support ethanol because Iowa is the first state to vote on presidential candidates. Candidates want to look strong at the start of the race, so every four years they become enthusiastic ethanol supporters. Even those who claim they believe in markets pander to Iowa's special interests.

"Donald Trump, who doesn't seem to have a consistent political philosophy aside from bashing critics and foreigners, now has joined the ethanol-praising club. In fact, Trump says regulators should force gas stations to increase the amount of ethanol they use. It's a convenient way to attack his Iowa rival, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tex., who courageously says the mandate should be phased out.

"Cruz is right. Legally mandating that a certain percentage of fuel used be ethanol is a bad idea for several reasons:

"First, mandating ethanol means more land must be plowed to grow corn for fuel. The Department of Energy estimates that if corn ethanol replaced gasoline completely, we'd need to turn all cropland to corn — plus 20 percent more land on top of that.

"Second, requiring ethanol fuel raises the price of corn — bad news for consumers who must pay more for food.

"Third, although ethanol's supporters claim burning corn is "better for the environment," that's not true. Once you add the emissions from growing, shipping and processing the corn, ethanol creates more pollution than oil. Environmental groups such as Friends of the Earth, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Clean Air Task Force now oppose its use.

"Finally, because corn is grown in America, promoters said ethanol would make us more energy independent. Even if the 'independence' argument were valid, fracking accomplishes much more.

"But in Iowa Trump says, 'Ethanol is terrific'....  Ben Carson didn't go that far but according to the Washington Examiner said that it would be wrong to end the subsidies.... Marco Rubio says he'd support ending the mandate — after another seven years..... At the Iowa Agriculture Summit, Chris Christie sounded annoyed that President Obama hasn't been more supportive of ethanol subsidies, saying, 'Certainly anybody who's a competent president would get that done!'....

"Bernie Sanders, I-Ver., criticized subsidies in the past, but on Iowa public radio he sounded as if he loves the boondoggle.... Hillary Clinton says ethanol 'holds the promise for not only more fuel for automobiles but for aviation ... and for military aircraft; we could be fueling so much air traffic with biofuels'....

"Only Cruz and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ken.) have consistently said that the market, not politicians, should choose fuels. Unfortunately, that principled stance hasn't brought them much support....

"Energy expert Jerry Taylor is right to say that running for office in Iowa not only means you must praise Christianity; it means being 'willing to sacrifice children to the corn god.'"

Read more: https://reason.com/archives/2016/01/27/presidential-candidates-rushing-to-suppo
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GOP sells out on omnibus spending bill

Articles: RIP Republican Party - Brian C. Joondeph, The American Thinker:

December 19, 2015 - "If there was any question about the relevance of the Republican Party, this week’s budget deal removes all doubt. The Republican Party might as well close up shop and merge with the Democrats. Not as a merger of equals, but more of a capitulation, a surrender, a sellout. There is no need for two parties in Washington DC as only one party is relevant in terms of advancing an agenda. The irony is that the agenda driving party is in the minority and despite losing badly in two midterm elections, the Democrats are still running Congress.

"Another 2000-plus page bill passed by Congress with little transparency or discussion. You mean ObamaCare? No: Paul Ryan’s $1.1 trillion spending bill, his first major legislative 'achievement' as House Speaker.

"The deal suspends the debt limit until 2017, well after the presidential election, effectively taking unsustainable debt off the table as a campaign issue. Obama doubled the national debt? So what? Republicans are helping him. Don’t worry though, the spending cuts will take place in 2025....

"What has this latest budget deal done to thwart the Obama agenda? Very little. The omnibus bill fully funds Obama’s executive amnesty program. Sanctuary cities are funded.... The student and fiancée visa programs are funded, along with green card and other refugee programs.... Illegal aliens coming across the southern border? Ryan’s bill funds their resettlement.... Illegals even have their tax credits funded by Ryan’s bill.... Any funds allocated to complete the southern border fence promised in 2006? No. Somehow Congress ran out of money for that. But not for a tall security fence around Paul Ryan’s own home....

"Planned Parenthood is fully funded.... No funding cuts to ObamaCare either, kicking down the road some of the onerous ObamaCare taxes. Even Obama’s global warming climate change bill receives funding without any restriction.

"Instead of opposition to the Obama/Democrat agenda, Republicans have not only surrendered, but are also advancing this agenda.... Impeachment is off the table. So is Republicans' 'power of the purse' because the leadership has ruled out any government shutdown....

"Republican establishment types wonder why Donald Trump is leading in the polls.... The smart set at Fox News can’t understand why 'we the people' aren’t flocking to Jeb or Marco, and instead supporting racist/fascist Donald Trump or Ted Cruz.

"These two may be the last and only hope of maintaining a two-party system. If the establishment manages to destroy Trump and Cruz, then it’s lights out for the Republican party. The base will stay home and the Founding Fathers will roll over in their graves. As for any future support for the GOP, my answer be a Mrs. Clinton refrain, 'What difference does it make?' The Republican Party will be six feet under and we will have one-party rule in Washington, DC."

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/12/rip_republican_party_.html
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Paul confronts warmongering in 5th GOP debate

How Rand Paul Proved His Usefulness | New Republic - Jamil Smith:

"While the other Republicans spent debate night measuring their manhood, the senator from Kentucky provided the lone voice of reason."

December 16, 2015 - "Rand Paul should not have been on the Las Vegas stage Tuesday night for the fifth Republican presidential debate.... But  ... it is inarguable the senator from Kentucky emerged as a key figure during the debate....

"Nearly all the GOP candidates and CNN moderator Wolf Blitzer discussed on Tuesday night was the kind of terrorism associated with radicals espousing Islam. But that gave Paul a chance to shine during the discussions about military force and surveillance — which, not coincidentally, are virtually the only policy areas where he remains an actual libertarian. Paul stood out in a debate lacking in viable ideas for avoiding another endless cycle of war and the continued infringement of personal liberty.

"After warning that regime change in Syria would only exacerbate the challenge presented by ISIS, Paul confronted the reckless and alarming suggestions Republican frontrunner Donald Trump made earlier in the debate that bombing the families of terrorists and closing parts of the Internet might be necessary to alleviate the terrorist threat. 'That entails getting rid of the First Amendment, okay? No small feat,' Paul said. 'If you are going to kill the families of terrorists, realize that there’s something called the Geneva Convention we’re going to have to pull out of. It would defy every norm that is America.'

"He called out [Marco] Rubio for supporting increased surveillance by law enforcement — an issue that Rubio was using to paint Ted Cruz as insufficiently tough on terror. But the exchange Paul had with fellow also-ran candidate Chris Christie about Russian planes was a pivotal moment in the debate....

"In an October interview with The Washington Post, Paul had deemed the idea of a no-fly zone over Syria a terrible one.... On Tuesday night, Blitzer asked Christie whether he would shoot down Russian aircraft if one or more encroached over such a no-fly zone. 'Not only would I be prepared to do it, I would do it. A no-fly zone means a no-fly zone, Wolf. That’s what it means'.... Christie added, ... 'Yes, we would shoot down the planes of Russian pilots if in fact they were stupid enough to think that this president was the same feckless weakling that the president we have in the Oval Office is right now'....

"'Well, I think if you’re in favor of World War III, you have your candidate,' Paul said, earning applause. 'My goodness, what we want in a leader is someone with judgment, not someone who is so reckless as to stand on the stage and say, "Yes, I’m jumping up and down; I’m going to shoot down Russian planes." Russia already flies in that airspace. It may not be something we’re in love with, the fact that they’re there, but they were invited by Iraq and by Syria to fly in that airspace.' Paul added that Hillary Clinton also supports a Syria no-fly zone — she called for one in October — but he circled back to criticizing the kind of leadership that GOP candidates like Christie are demonstrating during this long job interview process.

"'We need to confront Russia from a position of strength, but we don’t need to confront Russia from a point of recklessness that would lead to war,' Paul said, before dropping a zinger about the Bridgegate scandal. 'I mean, I think when we think about the judgment of someone who might want World War III, we might think about someone who might shut down a bridge because they don’t like their friends.' Christie shrugged off the dis, but the damage was done.

"I don’t want Rand Paul anywhere near the White House, except perhaps to visit the next Democratic president.... But his presence in the race is serving a key purpose.... Republican candidates, Donald Trump and Christie in particular, have a politics fed by the tough-guy act that their passionate audiences crave, without betraying any understanding of the consequences of unfettered warmongering.... Trump and others in the field are proving that you just need to talk bold to win conservative hearts; it’s irrelevant how many people you talk about casually spying on or murdering to pacify overblown fears of terrorist attacks here in the United States.

"Polling as low as he is, Paul may not prove to be an antidote to all this talk. But it was still heartening to see him — to see someone — inject some sensibility into a debate that seemed more a measurement of manhood than of presidential qualifications."

Read more: https://newrepublic.com/article/125967/rand-paul-proved-usefulness
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DMR poll gives Ted Cruz 10-point lead in Iowa

'Big shakeup' in Iowa Poll: Cruz soars to lead - Jennifer Jacobs, Des Moines Register:

December 14, 2015 - "Seven weeks from the caucuses, Ted Cruz ... has made a rapid ascent into the lead in the GOP presidential race here, with a 21 percentage-point leap that smashes records for upsurges in recent Iowa caucuses history.

"Donald Trump, now 10 points below Cruz, was in a pique about not being the front-runner even before the Iowa Poll results were announced Saturday evening. He wasted no time in tearing into Cruz — and the poll — during an Iowa stop Friday night.

"Ben Carson, another 'Washington outsider' candidate, has plunged 15 points from his perch at the front of the pack in October. He's now in third place.

 "'Big shakeup,' said J. Ann Selzer, pollster for the Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics Iowa Poll. 'This is a sudden move into a commanding position for Cruz.'

"Cruz, a Texas U.S. senator famous for defying party leaders and using government shutdown tactics to hold up funding for the Obamacare health care law and abortion provider Planned Parenthood, was the favorite of 10 percent of likely Republican caucusgoers in the last Iowa Poll in October. He's now at 31 percent....

"Carson's zenith was 28 percent in the poll two months ago. Trump's highest support was 23 percent back in August, when he led the field by 5 points.

"And there are signs Cruz may not have peaked in Iowa yet. Another 20 percent of likely caucusgoers say he's their current second choice for president. Cruz hits 51 percent support when first- and second-choice interest is combined, again leading the field.

"With Cruz's popularity and his debate proficiency, 'it's certainly possible that he could win Iowa big — very big,' said Frank Luntz, a Nevada-based GOP focus group guru who follows the Iowa race closely."

Read more: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2015/12/12/big-shakeup-iowa-poll-cruz-soars-lead/77199800/

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Rand Paul's Iowa problem: Ted Cruz

Rand Paul's Problem: Ted Cruz | National Review Online - Tim Alberta:

December 5, 2015 - "Cruz has been poaching Paul’s libertarian supporters since last January, when the Texas senator touched down in Iowa for a forum organized by Representative Steve King. The first thing Cruz did on that trip — before visiting with King or any of the state’s evangelical leaders — was stop at the Holiday Inn by the airport for a private roundtable discussion with Iowa’s 'liberty' leaders. In the eleven months since, Cruz has made significant inroads with this constituency — the one Ron Paul created, and Rand Paul had counted on as the backbone of his campaign.

"It’s an effort even longer in the making for Cruz. Over the last two years, the fiery Texan has followed Paul’s political lead on a number of key votes — from the 2013 budget showdown to the NSA-reforming USA Freedom Act and the National Defense Authorization Act earlier this year — in an effort to win over his libertarian fans. As the broader GOP electorate has soured on Paul-style non-interventionism over the same period, Cruz has charted a 'third way' on foreign policy, positioning himself in between Paul and the more traditionally hawkish Marco Rubio in an effort to court both camps’ voters. That’s hurt Paul, whose libertarian base of support was never the largest segment of the primary electorate to begin with....

"Paul has struggled to reconstruct his father’s base in Iowa — and therefore has struggled to remain viable in the run-up to the state’s Feb. 1 caucuses. Ron Paul had no opposition for the votes of libertarian-leaning Republicans in 2012, and wound up winning 21 percent of the overall caucus vote. His son, however, facing a field twice as large — and direct competition from Cruz — has been mired in the single digits for five months. He currently registers at 3 percent support in Real Clear Politics’s polling average, and hasn’t earned more than 6 percent in any poll since July.

"Paul dismissed the threat from Cruz in a meeting with reporters ... saying that nine of the ten state central committee members who supported his father are backing him in 2016. 'We still think the vast majority of the liberty vote is coming to us,' he said.

"But unaffiliated Republicans around the state say otherwise. The emerging consensus is that while Paul still probably has the support of most liberty-minded voters, Cruz has peeled away enough of them — from a pool that wasn’t very large in the first place — to make Paul a non-factor in the race....

"Paul was never going to win Iowa, or the GOP nomination, unless he could grow his father’s base of support, which hasn’t happened. Instead he finds himself bleeding family loyalists to Cruz, and struggling to stay relevant because of it."

Read more: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/428081/rand-paul-ted-cruz-problem
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